You can add a third folder by clicking the Browse button under the “3rd File or Folder” field.Īfter adding the folders to compare, make sure “Folder: Filter” is set to “*.*” and the “Include Subfolders” checkbox is selected. Just as before, the second folder path is added to the “2nd File for Folder” field. Select the second folder you want to compare against the first folder and click the “Open” button. Next, click the “Browse” button under the “2nd File for Folder” field. This action will add the folder path to the “1st File for Folder” field. Here, open the folder you want to compare and click the “Open” button.

The above action will open the Browse window.

You can also press the “Ctrl + O” keyboard shortcut.Ĭlick the “Browse” button under the “1st File for Folder” field. You can open it from the Start menu or double-click on the WinMerge desktop icon.Īfter opening the application, go to the “File” menu and click on the “Open” option. Once the application is installed, open WinMerge. Once downloaded, double-click on the setup file and follow the installation wizard to install WinMerge. Click on the WinMerge-2.X.X-Setup.exe button to download the setup file. With that, you’ve compared two folders for differences.įirst, use the link above to download the WinMerge application.

WinMerge will compare both folders and highlights all the differences.

Select the second folder you want to compare.

Press the Browse button under the 2nd File or Folder field.

Select the first folder you want to compare.

Press the Browse button under the 1st File or Folder field.

Download and install the WinMerge software.

To compare folders in Windows, we will use a free and open-source software called WinMerge. In this article, I will show you how to use a free and open-source software called WinMerge to compare two folders in Windows. Thankfully, there are several free tools that make it easier to compare two or more folders to find differences. Whatever the reason for needing to compare folders in Windows, it is time-consuming and tedious if you want to do it manually.

Winmerge directory compare